Crispy Pig Tails

The love affair goes on. This time it's crispy breaded and baked pig tails. They are incredibly delicious to die for crunchy melt-in-your mouth tender pork delicacy. I love it simply dipped in vinegar-hot pepper-soy sauce dipping sauce.

One of our all-time favorite Filipino dishes is Ox Tail stew but I have never thought of cooking pig tails. After getting a small package of pig tails already sectioned into 6 inch lengths, I found a recipe from one of my cookbooks CHARCUTERIE AND FRENCH PORK COOKBOOK by Jane Grigson. The tails are brined for 3 days, are simmered with lots of vegetables then dredged in bread crumbs and grilled. I didn't use that recipe as I didn't want to wait 3 days but instead I adapted the one from gourmet.com which is from the Fergus Henderson's cookbook THE WHOLE BEAST that I read about here. [I want a copy of the cookbook, right now!]

Next time I cook these I'll take my time and brine the tails and cook them using Jane Grigson's method. And maybe deep fry them just like crispy pata (pork legs).

they're good by themselves or with steamed mix of Israeli couscous, spinach and carrot orzo, baby garbanzos and red quinoa

Crispy Pig Tails
adapted from gourmet.com
2 pounds pig tails, cut into lengths
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 carrot, coarsely chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
6 cloves peeled garlic

2 sprigs Italian parsley
2 sprigs thyme
zest of half a lemon (removed into strips using a vegetable peeler)
1 bay leaf
4 whole black peppercorn
1 cup red wine
2 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoons sea salt
1 tablespoon dry mustard
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup fine dry bread crumbs
3 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Arrange tails in a large roasting pan, then add onion, carrot, celery, garlic, herb sprigs, zest, bay leaf, peppercorns, 1 teaspoon salt, wine, and broth and cover tightly with heavy-duty foil. Braise in oven for about 3 hours. Cool in cooking liquid, uncovered, to room temperature, about 2 hours, then chill, covered loosely, until tails are cold and firm, about 3 hours.
• Put a heavy shallow baking pan on middle rack of oven and preheat oven to 450ºF.
• Remove tails from braising mixture and remove adhering vegetables and aspic. Sprinkle tails with 1 teaspoon salt.
• Whisk together mustard and eggs in a wide shallow dish and put flour and bread crumbs each in a separate wide shallow dish. Working with 1 piece at a time, dredge tails in flour, knocking off excess, then coat with egg, brushing it into the crevices and letting excess drip off, and roll tails in bread crumbs, coating thoroughly. Transfer as coated to a plate.
• Remove hot baking pan from oven and add butter to pan, tilting it to coat. When foam subsides, add tails. Using tongs, turn and coat tails with butter on all sides. Roast until underside is browned, 10 to 15 minutes. Turn tails over and roast until other side is browned, 10 to 15 minutes more.